IBM launches Drona for Faculty - industry collaboration

Bangalore: IBM announced the first of its kind initiative – Drona Partner Programme – aimed at empowering faculty members with right resources to prepare students for the 21st century skills. By providing a platform for collaboration between leading independent software vendors (ISVs) and academia, IBM plans to bring key players within the ecosystem together to build crucial business and technology skills for the global economy.

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Speaking at the event, Anil Menon, VP - Channels, Marketing & Ecosystems, IBM India / South Asia commented, "As technology and business environments continue to change rapidly, IT professionals are required to learn and apply new skills to compete in a global economy. TodayÂ’s IT jobs require more than just strong technical abilities; they also demand industry and business knowledge, as well as effective communication and interpersonal skills. This makes it imperative for industry, partners and academia to understand what the businesses are looking for in the next generation of IT hires. We hope that the Drona Partner Program will give a boost to qualified job-ready professionals to lead the future of the IT industry."

According to industry sources, around 1.5 million skilled IT experts will be needed by 2012 - a trend that is fueling major opportunities for innovation and career growth for IT students especially in India, China and Southeast Asia. The overall aim of the Drona Program is to demonstrate how IBM is collaborating with ISVs, universities and partners together to help drive IT as part of the new liberal arts. With its wealth of resources, including hands on mentoring, grants, and course-ware IBM is delivering on its promise to invest in the future IT leaders of tomorrow. The Drona Program, which will mutually benefit ISVs and faculty members will pave way for better understanding of current requirements and execution bottlenecks - both for faculty members and ISVs and enable them to effectively work towards instilling insights into students and business.

"Technological and demographic changes, together with the development of the global economy, have all increased the scale and complexity of work. These changes have also left gaps in the understanding of how to manage networks of people, technology and institutions on which thriving and successful businesses rely - resulting in both faculty and students undergoing a transformation in the way training is undertaken today. Through IBMÂ’s Drona Partner summit, we'll be able to equip ourselves and our students with effective skills to overcome such challenges," commented Prof. N.Murali from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai.

Universities provide excellent learning environments, but find it difficult to teach students about an IT transformation in progress unless those driving the transformation - IT companies at the helm of transformation - provide real-time inputs and support to academia. IBM, with its "full spectrum" of research, services, industry and technology expertise besides an extensive business partner network is in a unique position to work closely with academic institutions to help shape the workforce and business and society of the future.